For what may have been little more than a century from 1700 to 1600 BC, Minoan Crete exercised some kind of grip on communities spread all across the southern Aegean, from Kythera in the west to Miletus in the east. But what was the nature of this relationship? Was it outright political and military domination? Or did local communities choose to participate in new long-distance exchange networks that were beneficial to all? Convincing explanations still elude us. In this talk I present recent findings from sites across Crete, the Cyclades and Asia Minor contributing to new perspectives on the complex processes of ‘Minoanisation’.